


so forever towards dawn we run

by mothmanfucker666



Category: Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Invader Zim
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fusion, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-07 17:06:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20313007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothmanfucker666/pseuds/mothmanfucker666
Summary: Expression unchanging and tone remarkably flat, the woman says, "He's a bad kisser."Dib blinks, caught off guard. "Uh.. Pardon?"Mandy just stares at him for a second, then nods toward Dib's shirt.MOTHMAN IS MY BOYFRIEND, it says below an artist's depiction of said cryptid.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hooray, old crack ships! don't know where i'm going with this, but. whatever. here. Have Thing.
> 
> barely proofread because i'm lazy. title from werewolf heart by dead man's bones.

The first time they meet is when Dib is handing out flyers for the Paranormal Investigation Club.

At first glance, Mandy definitely doesn't look like she'd be interested. She's dressed smartly in all pink, polished black mary-janes clicking against the pavement outside the Membrane building on campus; her body language is confident and determined. Blonde hair frames her face, heavy brows furrowed over what Dib suspects is the most serious case of resting bitch face he's seen in his life. Her eyes, pale blue, just barely skate over Dib as she walks past him, and he feels strangely like he's in high school again. Everything about this woman says that she should, at best, scoff derisively as she passes him by.

But then. But then the woman comes to a stop directly in front of Dib, turning on her heel to face him directly. Expression still unchanging and tone remarkably flat, she says, "He's a bad kisser."

Dib blinks, caught off guard. "Uh... Pardon?"

Mandy just stares at him for a second, then nods toward Dib's shirt. _MOTHMAN IS MY BOYFRIEND_, it says below an artist's depiction of said cryptid.

Still confused, Dib just sort of stares at Mandy some more. She arches one eyebrow minutely. "The proboscis," she clarifies, just a touch impatiently. "He doesn't know what to do with all that tongue. But he's sweet, I guess."

"I," Dib starts. Either this woman is as crazy as people think he is, or...

Uncertain, Dib extends a flyer toward Mandy. She takes it and glances it over. "How many people actually show up to this thing?" Mandy asks, glancing back up to Dib with that piercing, unnerving gaze.

"Honestly?" Dib laughs nervously. "Like, three ─ including me and my sister. But we all have... Experiences. Real ones." He thinks Gaz would like this woman, actually. They have remarkably similar mannerisms.

Mandy hums, then folds the flyer neatly and tucks it into her stylish purse. At least, Dib assumes it's stylish. He wouldn't really know. "Seven o'clock tomorrow night?" she double checks.

"Uh, yeah. In─"

"In the Membrane building," Mandy interrupts.

Dib nods a little, swallowing. "Yeah." Warily, he offers Mandy a smile. She doesn't return it, but something tells Dib smiling isn't something this woman is very accustomed to doing. "I'm, uh, Dib, by the way."

"Mandy," the woman returns simply, and holds out a hand for him to shake. Caught off guard, Dib shuffles his flyers into his free hand and clumsily takes hold of Mandy's. Her handshake is crushing, and Dib notices her pink-painted nails are perfectly manicured. When she lets go, Mandy takes a step back, adjusting her grip on her purse. "Tomorrow night," she says again, nodding once.

"Tomorrow night," Dib echoes, and watches as Mandy turns to once again go along her way. She doesn't so much as spare him a backward glance.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> koa is an oc i modified slightly for the purposes of this fic. basically, like, picture jason momoa with a robotic left leg from the knee down. yeah.
> 
> thanks for kudos and comments! they mean a lot to me, especially on this dumb thing. i have a vague plot in mind, sooo. let's hope i can at least keep up with posting these short little chapters every few days.

The Membrane Lab was donated to Endsville University by Dib's father years before his birth, and it's constantly kept up-to-date by the Professor's frequent donations. The lab itself isn't where Dib's Paranormal Club meetings are held, though; those are held in a much smaller room off the lobby where faculty meetings and presentations are usually held.

Dib is setting things up while Gaz plays disinterestedly on her Switch when their only other regular member arrives. His name is Koa, and he claims to be dating a vampire. Dib has never had any reason to doubt him. Koa grins and takes a seat at the far-too-large table, leaning back in his chair. "We expectin' someone new?" Koa asks, curious. "Hey, you look like you actually brushed your hair."

"He did," Gaz replies before Dib can do more than scowl and flush pink. Though they no longer live with their father, the two do share a small apartment near the college. "Spent an hour in the bathroom earlier."

"It was twenty minutes!" Dib protests, and looks over to the door when he hears the sound of heels approaching from the other side. They pause, and then the door opens to reveal Mandy. She's dressed quite similarly to before, and surveys the room carefully before stepping inside and closing the door behind her.

"You lost?" Koa asks, sounding genuine. Mandy looks over to him and arches an eyebrow. Then she takes a seat at the table, setting her purse on the empty seat beside her.

"My best friend and I tricked the Grim Reaper into being our best friend for life when we were ten," Mandy says, voice as monotone and face as expressionless as ever. "A lot has happened since then."

Gaz looks up from her game, then glances to Dib. The latter shifts in his seat and clears his throat. "An alien moved in a few blocks away from me when I was eleven. He was really, very clearly an alien, but... Nobody ever believed me. Except Gaz."

"Well, yeah." Gaz looks back at her game. "I just didn't care."

Mandy hums thoughtfully, glancing to Koa. Her expression is wordlessly questioning.

"My boyfriend is a vampire, and I lost my leg in a Cthulhian cult ritual," Koa says, quite proudly.

Mandy glances between them all curiously, then settles into her chair a little better. "My name is Mandy," she says.

It prompts Gaz and Koa to introduce themselves, as well. When they've all been introduced, Dib looks at Mandy with a half-grin and asks, "So... Mothman, huh?"

─

The four of them talk for an hour, and Dib struggles not to find himself utterly enraptured by Mandy. He's mostly unsuccessful, in the end, judging by the smirk tugging at the corner of Gaz's mouth. It's just ─ Mandy is so _interesting_, she's seen so _much_, and she even has pictures and videos to prove it.

"This is huge!" Dib gushes between bites of chocolate chip cookie as they clean up after the meeting. (Okay, mostly he and Koa are doing the cleaning up ─ Mandy and Gaz are just sort of watching.) "Why have you never tried to bring this to the public? You could change the world?"

Mandy shakes her head. "The world doesn't care, Dib. And I have more important things to concern myself with."

"What do you mean?" Dib asks, pausing to watch Mandy as she gathers her purse and gets to her feet. In lieu of responding, she walks around the table to steal Dib's notebook, scribbling something in one corner in neat, flowery handwriting.

"It's cute how you take notes," Mandy muses, something in her expression somehow suggesting a smile even though it doesn't really change. She hands the notebook back to Dib. "Text me. We'll get coffee and talk about it." It's more of an order than a request, but Dib still feels his heart pound as he just sort of stammers in response.

With a vague wave to the room at large, Mandy turns to go, leaving a flushed and flustered Dib holding his notebook and looking quite ready to spontaneously combust.

"I like her," Gaz intones, gaze never lifting from the Switch in her hands.


End file.
